Chapter 2

Sasuke pushed open the door of the chosen bar, not bothering to hold it for Naruto. Catching the black-painted wood as it fell on him, Naruto noticed how scored and peeling it was. Not for the first time he wondered what sort of bars Sasuke frequented; if he'd had to have guessed, this definitely wouldn't have been his first choice. The interior made up for its drab façade: while busy, it at least seemed clean. The walls consisted of bare stone, large mismatched blocks of varying greys that hosted an assortment of flags and posters. Aggressive, heavy music played over the speakers, but it blended into the crowd's chatter as background noise. Naruto did his best to follow Sasuke as he weaved his way to the bar, passing through a great variety of people: young and old stood shoulder to shoulder in the throng, every alternative style and colour under the sun accounted for. Sasuke gently placed his hand on the shoulder of a giant harsh-looking man, who immediately moved to let them through. He gave Naruto a large, genuine smile as he passed.

"Is this place usually filled with so many… characters?" Naruto asked as they reached the bar. He glanced back at the friendly biker, now enthusiastically talking to his friend.

"Mostly the just the older guys, a few students. But weekends are weekends. They have gigs on in the back too. The bigger acts can draw quite a crowd." Sasuke replied, managing to squeeze himself into a small gap at the bar. He turned his head slightly, not quite looking at Naruto. "I'll get first round, what do you want?"

Naruto's brain seemed to jam for a second. "Eh… JD and coke if you're getting." Naruto shook his head as Sasuke tried to flag down the bartender: what was wrong with him? Even after he'd had a few drinks, he wasn't usually this bad. He decided it was probably that hook to the head he'd received earlier, trying to put it out his mind and focus.

The bartender frowned when he saw Sasuke, making his way over with a stern expression on his face. Naruto had almost forgotten: his friend was covered in blood. It was a miracle they were let in at all, but there was no way he was getting served…

"Jesus man, how many times have I told you?" The bartender growled. "One of these days you're gonna go to the goddamn hospital instead of straight back in here." He shook his head and reached under the counter, pulling out a rag and tossing it at Sasuke. "Go clean yourself up, you're making the place look like a dive. Having your usual?"

Sasuke gave a small smile as he caught the rag. "Yeah, and a JD and coke for him," he said, gesturing with his thumb over his shoulder at Naruto. The bartender raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Slapping money down on the bar, Sasuke squeezed past Naruto. "Back in a sec."

As the barman prepared their drinks, Naruto stepped forward and rested his forearms on the counter, one foot propped up on a golden rail that ran along the ground. He thanked the man as the drinks were deposited in front of him, one tall and dark, the other a whisky glass of amber. Leaning in slightly, Naruto caught his eye. "So this is nothing new then? Him turning up half-dead?"

The bartender shrugged as he scooped up the money. "Every so often, yeah. From what I've seen, he's very… confrontational. He doesn't start fights, he just has a habit of calling people out on their shit." He wandered over to the register, pulling out some change and placing it on the bar. "Of course, some people don't take too kindly to being shown up. They step outside and… well you've seen the result." He shrugged. "Only reason he hasn't been barred yet is the owner has a soft spot for him. Dunno why he doesn't learn: look at the state of him, seems like the only thing he can do is take a punch."

Naruto almost interrupted him there: Sasuke had always been the strongest person he knew, master of several martial arts with unparalleled ferocity: Judo, Tai Kwon Do, Karate, Sasuke had been taught them all from a young age.

I know that all too well Naruto thought, subconsciously rubbing his arm.

"Honestly," the bartender continued. "You're the first person I've seen him actually come in with. He usually just leaves with them."

Something about that made Naruto's stomach drop. He muttered a quick thanks and picked up his drink, just looking for something to do with his hands. He supposed he should feel sad for his friend: drinking alone, the fights, leaving with different people each night… but there was a knot in his stomach, something akin to anger. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest as he took a drink, trying to calm his nerves. Christ, what was happening to him?

Sasuke sidled up to him suddenly, causing him to jump and choke on his drink. Sasuke sighed as Naruto had a coughing fit, grabbing his drink and change off the counter, knocking back a mouthful. He seemed to relax, some of the stiffness leaving his posture.

"Too strong for you?" He teased, a smile seeming to dance around the edge of his lips but not quite coming to the surface.

Naruto didn't deign to reply, taking another sip to ease his aching throat. Now he was cleaned up a bit, Naruto could see the bartender was right: Sasuke had been on the losing end of quite a few fights. Harsh bruising snaked up his neck in dark purple and sickly yellow blotches. His jaw was already slightly swollen, and Naruto could make out several small, pale scars against his ashen skin. It was the same story for his arms: shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbows, he could see half-healed cuts adorning his wiry frame. One particularly large scar, angry and white, ran from the webbing of his thumb down to the centre of his palm. Naruto grimaced just thinking about how much that must have hurt.

Sasuke noticed the path of his gaze, a dry, humourless chuckle escaping him. "That one had a knife." He said, taking a large sip from the squat glass he held.

Naruto gritted his teeth, Sasuke's cavalier attitude irking him beyond measure. "So how does the famed Sasuke Uchiha go from winning tournaments to getting his ass beaten by the steroid brigade? The Sasuke I know… the Sasuke I knew wouldn't have let them so much as touch him."

Sasuke didn't avoid the question as much as ignore it. "Despite your sloppiness, you move well: you still train, Naruto?"

Although phrased as one, Naruto could tell that wasn't a question. He was about to start demanding answers, but it suddenly occurred to him that it wouldn't work: no matter what else had changed, Sasuke seemed as stubborn as ever. He'd have to play by Sasuke's rules if he was going to get anything out of him.

Naruto took a long drink, partly to calm himself and partly to ease his throat, still sore from inhaling what felt like a pint of Jack Daniels. "Yeah, I still go regularly, same schedule as ever: one hour kickboxing with Kakashi, one hour mixed with Jiraiya."

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, I figured. You still move with the subtlety of a brick. Kickboxing's to blame, it's all heavy hits. Jiraiya's got a basis in proper martial arts, right? At least that's got discipline."

"I could still kick your ass. Or just wait until you pick your next fight."

That smile flirted with his lips for a second once more. "I had them right where I wanted them."

Naruto figured that was Sasuke's idea of bravado. "So I assumed you've stopped your own training?"

"On the contrary: I now practice Ju-Jitsu, Muay Tai, and Krav Maga. Krav Maga's my new favourite. Practical and efficient."

"Wasn't that designed for the Israeli military?" Naruto asked, quite surprised in his choice martial art. "One routine I saw involved beating people with a damn assault rifle. Seems a bit… unrefined. For you."

Sasuke gave another grim laugh. "That's half the point: it's half intimidation, half pain. See someone dropped with that level of brutality… you aren't gonna want to be next."

Sasuke was a hard man to read, but even with their years apart Naruto hadgot a lot of practice. What he saw scared him. Even though his tone and expression remained the same, Naruto could tell Sasuke was enjoying it, the idea of their fear.

No, it's more than that: it's the idea that they fear him.

Despite the way he looked, Sasuke Uchiha was still a very dangerous man.

Naruto shuddered, having to look away. This seemed so different from the person he knew.

Or maybe I never really knew him at all…

Naruto clenched his fist, unfocused eyes boring a hole in the vast collection of bottles at the back of the bar as he steeled his resolve. Sasuke may have gone down a bad path; Naruto decided it just meant he needed to try even harder to help him.

He tried again. "So how does a master of Krav Maga, and whatever else, end up with so many injuries?"

Sasuke finished his whisky, seemingly ignoring Naruto. Exchanging money for alcohol, he turned to Naruto with a fresh glass.

"Tell you what," he said, leaning towards Naruto, his voice low. His eyes were playful, but there was an edge to them that made Naruto uncomfortable. "How about we play a game? Question for a question, answer for an answer. Since you seem to be so insistent."

Naruto nodded, taking the drink to his lips once more. "Okay then: since I already answered a question of yours, I get to go first. What have you actually been doing these last 3 years?" He had more pressing questions, but he figured he should start small and work his way up, lest Sasuke decide not to honour the agreement.

It might also help if he has a bit more to drink.

"Ah-ah-ah, Naruto." Sasuke chided, still disturbingly playful. In a flash of understanding, Naruto realised why it was so disconcerting: it reminded him of the look a cat gives a baby bird, letting it escape only to be caught and toyed with some more. "That's not how the game works. I'm not giving you my life story in one question. No, you're gonna need to be more specific."

Naruto's patience was wearing thin. "Fine: do you have a job, or do your nightly liaisons pay for all your drinks?"

Sasuke seemed rather taken aback. "Are you implying-"

"-that you're a prostitute, yes."

As much as he relished the subtle disquiet on Sasuke's face, Naruto regretted what had slipped unbidden out of his mouth. His quick defence of it, too, just jumped out his mouth. His brain seemed to be tying itself in knots.

There it goes, any hint of tact out the window. He's gonna wonder how I know that too… "Nightly liaisons?" Who the fuck am I, Shakespeare?

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as Naruto finished his drink, avoiding eye contact. He could feel a blush sinking its crimson fangs into his cheeks. He didn't know why he was so hung up on that fact: why should it matter to him how Sasuke spent his nights? Even with all those injuries, he bet Sasuke had girls falling all over him-

-Naruto. Focus.

Turning back to Sasuke, Naruto saw those eyes quickly snap away from the bartender, his frown fading half a second too slow.

"Well," Sasuke said, picking up his drink again. "First off, I'm not a prostitute. If that needed clarification." Naruto winced, sure that the liquid sarcasm he'd injected into that phrase was venom enough to kill a man.

"But yeah, I have a job. I'm in business. Boring stuff really: I protect assets, acquire information about our competition, arrange… hostile takeovers. It pays well. I was actually on a job tonight. Hence the suit." He looked down, suddenly seeming to remember something. "Except I've lost the tie. And the jacket. All things considered, it's not been a great night."

"They called you in on a Friday night? What's so important that it can't wait till tomorrow?" Naruto asked, trying to add some incredulity to his voice and coax out more information.

And move the conversation swiftly past that last accusation of his, of course.

Sasuke, unfortunately, was having none of it. "Timing is very important in my line of work: wait too long, and it can be someone's neck on the line."

Well, Naruto thought. That told me sweet fuck all.

Sasuke was obviously used to being vague about his work: Naruto could tell those phrases were carefully constructed to tell as little as possible. He figured there could be many reasons Sasuke needed secrecy for his work. He might work with sensitive documents. He could need to protect trade secrets.

Or he just enjoys being a mysterious bastard.

"Okay," Sasuke said, dragging Naruto from his thoughts. "My turn: why do my 'nightly liaisons,' as you so eloquently put it, bother you?"

Shit.

"They don't." Naruto replied, too quickly. His brain was vomiting words again without his permission: if he didn't get a hold of himself soon, he might have backed himself into an awkward situation.

Sasuke's voice was smooth silk, dripping with amusement. "You've always been a bad liar, Naruto. Any more cheating and I might have to consider abandoning this little game." He gave Naruto a sidelong glance. "After all, we need rules, don't we Naruto?"

Shiiiiiit.

"Do you disagree with it?" He continued. "I'd never pegged you as a traditionalist Naruto, but stranger things have happened."

"It's not that." Naruto muttered. "It's…"

What is it?

He straightened up, speaking louder. "I guess it's just I feel you deserve better. I mean I don't disagree with what you're doing, I think people should be able to explore sex in any way they want. But it's gotta be lonely, right? You've figured out I asked the bartender about you while you were gone, not much point in pretending otherwise. You come in alone. You leave with someone different every night. Wouldn't it be better if you had someone you could rely on? Someone that knows you, I mean really knows you?"

Sasuke was listening intently, a strange look on his face. It made Naruto think he was on the right track.

"It's not to put you down or anything dude, I'm sure the girls are all over you, but-"

Sasuke chose that moment to interrupt him, that amused smirk finally coming to the surface. "Who said anything about girls?"

Oh. Wow.

"You should see the look on your face." Sasuke continued, his eyebrow cocked once more. "Is it really that hard to believe?"

It took Naruto a second to reboot his brain. "Oh, no, not really. It's just, ah…" he gave a nervous laugh, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "It's kinda stupid."

Sasuke didn't respond, but Naruto could swear the eyebrow had crept higher.

"It's just I didn't think any of those high school rumours were true, you know?"

"There were rumours about me?" Sasuke asked, seeming sceptical.

"Well yeah, there was about everyone. You know what our school was like. Some kid swore blind that Ino's hair was a wig. Another said they saw Mr Sarutobi and Miss Yuhi kissing in an empty classroom." Naruto paused and looked up in thought. "Actually, that was probably true as well, I heard they had a kid some time after we left.

"I see," Sasuke murmured, his expression puzzling Naruto once more.

Man, why does he have to be so hard to read?

"What else did they say about me?" He asked, his expression still slightly odd.

Naruto tried to put it out his mind: he didn't seem to be able to focus on more than one thing at a time tonight. "Erm…" hummed Naruto, still reeling slightly from his recent discover. "There were a few. Shikamaru heard you entered a judo contest several years above your age class and won."

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah, that was right. It was never on the books though: once they found out my age, they disqualified me."

Naruto wasn't surprised. "You've never been one for rules, have you Sasuke? Except when they suit you, of course." He added, remembering his insistence on them several minutes ago.

"Not if I can help it." He tried to get the bartender again, a look of annoyance flitting briefly across his face as he was ignored in favour of a man with a giant beard. Turning back to Naruto, Sasuke enquired further. "What else?"

"I'm sure at some point a few people said you could lift a whole car by yourself, but that one can't be true." Naruto glanced at Sasuke out the corner of his eye. "Right?"

Sasuke placed a curled finger on his chin, knuckle brushing his lower lip, looking thoughtful. "Well… no, that was after I left. So that probably doesn't count."

"Wait, 'doesn't count?' How can you pull off crazy shit like that and say it "doesn't count?" Naruto exclaimed, using his fingers to hammer home the point.

"It's a long story."

"Oh no, you don't get to tell me you kinda lifted a car and get away with 'it's a long story.'" Naruto said mimicking Sasuke's low voice as he quoted him.

Sasuke sighed. "Fine. It is your turn to ask a question, I guess it can be that. But first I'm gonna need a drink." He clinked his whisky glass against Naruto's equally empty tall one. "Since we're both empty… your round."

After they finally got the bartender's attention, Naruto hopped up on onto a bar stool, Sasuke electing to stand with his drink. This time it was something called Bruichladdich: Naruto didn't know how he remembered all the names of these fancy whiskies, or how he could afford them.

Grumbling slightly about his significantly lighter wallet, Naruto took a large gulp of Jack Daniels and coke, leaning forward to listen.

"Okay," Sasuke said, putting his glass down. "So I wake up naked in a stranger's bed, head pounding. Throat feels like sandpaper, stomach's inside out: nothing new. Strange thing is my arms and shoulders hurt like fuck, and I can't remember anything from the night before. My memory's usually crystal, unless I've had a stupidly large amount to drink.

This guy comes through, also naked, with coffee. I remembered his name, Suigetsu, but nothing else is coming to me. I ask him what happened the night before. He gives me the biggest shit-eating grin, says 'apart from the obvious?'"

Sasuke shook his head, smiling ruefully. "He tells me that he was in a bar, a high-end sort of place. He'd been told to retrieve his boss's new car, this tiny carbon fibre prototype, and park it somewhere safe for the night; instead, he'd decided to use it to help his 'pull game,' as he described it. So he's at the bar, talking up this car to anyone that will listen. And a few are: he'd talk engines with some of the guys, and more than a few of the girls to hear him tell it."

Sasuke gave a quick bark of laughter at Naruto's surprised expression, but this one seemed more genuine. "Suigetsu sees no gender, only prey. Apparently I was at the other end of the bar – God knows what I was doing somewhere like that – having to listen to every attempt, all night. And… apparently I got rather fed up of it. He says I grabbed him by the collar, dragged him out into the street, walked up to the car in question… and I flipped it."

Naruto almost spat out his drink. "You flipped a-"

"-I flipped a car." He took a sip of whisky, nodding, "To be fair, it was one of those stupid tiny cars, carbon fibre to make it super-light."

"Still, holy shit," Naruto muttered. He chuckled. "How did he take it, Su…"

"Suigetsu?" Sasuke finished. "He calls his boss, freaking out about how 'some dude's flipped his fucking car.' Apparently I was standing there, smoking, looking quite pleased with myself. Until I heard him say his boss's name. The car I flipped?" He gave a dramatic pause: he was really getting into the story, slowly becoming more animated. "It was my boss's. We both worked for the same guy."

This time Naruto did lose a bit of drink. Wiping Jack Daniels off his chin, he laughed into his sleeve. "You flipped your boss's car? Jesus dude! I guess you had to find another job after that, huh?"

Sasuke shook his head at Naruto, but still smiled. "If I worked for anyone else, maybe. This guy's somewhat odd. He turned up ready to kill someone until he realised it was me. He thought it was hilarious. Of course, the repairs were taken out of my wages, but I was lucky. Suigetsu actually got more shit for not parking it safely in the first place. We got talking though, had rather a lot more to drink and, well… you know what happened."

Naruto just shook his head, stunned into silence. As amazing as the story was, the parts about him sleeping with the other man still made him feel strange. Sasuke may have bought the line about Naruto wanting Sasuke to have a proper companion, but Naruto wondered if that was all there was to it. He took another drink: self-analysing was hard.

"It's not often I see you speechless Naruto." Sasuke teased. Naruto just smiled into his drink, glancing at him past the rim of the glass. Sasuke seemed to be more relaxed, some of the tension having left his body: his shoulders were lower, his expression less guarded. His head had dipped slightly as well, so he was looking less down at Naruto and more at him. During his anecdote he'd started smiling more genuinely, the way he used to: that cocky smirk, less clinical and more full of life. It felt more like the Sasuke he'd known. It made Naruto both happy and sad.

"My turn," Sasuke said, swirling his drink slightly, watching the glass for a second before looking up at Naruto. "You in a relationship, Naruto?"

The question wasn't what Naruto had expected. "That's a bit of an odd question. Why do you want to know?"

A smile flitted round the corner of his mouth. "I'm curious: for all I've talked about you being the same as ever, you also seem different. It's something small, I can't put my finger on it." He paused slightly, tapping the edge of his glass. "Having a partner can change people."

"It has been three years, can't I have just matured a bit?" Naruto asked, somewhat disgruntled. He sighed when Sasuke just cocked an eyebrow – he swore those things were spring-loaded – but smiled despite himself. "Yeah, yeah, okay. To answer your question, no: I'm not currently seeing anyone."

Sasuke caught onto his word choice immediately, not missing a beat. "Currently? So you were until recently?"

Naruto chuckled. "Nothing gets by you, does it? Hinata and I were together for a while, but… well it just didn't work out."

"You and Hinata, huh? I didn't expect her to actually say anything to you. I assume she asked you, right?"

Naruto's jaw dropped. "Don't tell me you knew she liked me? For years I thought she was just shy!"

Sasuke laughed, a soft, low, snigger. "Naruto, you dolt, everyone knew. You didn't need my eyes to see that. I mean, really, she went red anytime she was near you." He shook his head as he took a drink. "So what happened?"

"Ah-ah-ah Sasuke!" Naruto playfully scolded, imitating the phrase his friend had used earlier. "That's another question. Me first."

Sasuke groaned as he leaned forward, and Naruto felt some of the amusement drain from his face as he prepared to ask a serious question. "I gotta know man: why were those guys laying into you earlier? It's something you said, right?"

"Hmm," Sasuke agreed, sampling more of the Bruichladdich. "He really gave you an in-depth profile of me, didn't he? The bartender," Sasuke confirmed at Naruto's confused expression, spinning his near-empty glass. "Well it started off quite innocently, really. I was at another bar, minding my own business. The guy next to me won't stop bragging about how much he can drink. On and on, this macho bullshit grating in my ear. No one should be forced to listen to that kind of over-compensation: I felt sorry for him more than anything. I was gonna leave it alone-" he cut off, seeing Naruto's expression. "-no, really, I was. But then this guy, the blond one, says he drank six bottles of vodka himself in one night. I politely informed him, his friends, and the bored lady he was trying to impress that, unless he's talking miniatures, six bottles would leave him dead. One of them, equally politely, told me to get lost."

Naruto giggled, interrupting Sasuke. "Politely?"

Sasuke grinned. "I'm paraphrasing. So a few of them laugh, a few heckle me, but not Blondie: no, this guy insists on trying to square up to me, practically humping my shoulder. I try and ignore him, you know, these sorts of people aren't worth your time. They don't give you a decent fight." He drained his glass, making a satisfied face as the liquid trickled down his throat. Raising his empty at the bartender, Sasuke continued. "He keeps trying to goad me, and I'm not buying it… until he tries a certain word. I'm gonna let you in on a little secret." He leaned forward, looking dead into Naruto's eyes. "I am rather drunk, Naruto. I mean, I was rather drunk in the last bar too. That slur, it wound me up more than it should have. Judgement goes out the window a bit. So we took it outside."

Naruto was curious of the word, but didn't want to push Sasuke: he knew the man had thick skin, so anything that could get under it must be cutting.

"Here's what I don't get," Naruto said cautiously, before erupting into another coughing fit. Evidently his throat was still a bit sore from his mishap earlier. Sasuke frowned as he received a top up.

Naruto recovered slightly, trying to clear his throat. "What I don't get is how quickly you went from human punching bag to breaking that guy's arm. It was scary. I don't think I've ever seen someone move that fast."

"Doesn't matter," Sasuke replied curtly. "It's not your turn any more: I get the answer to my last one: why did you and Hinata break up?"

Naruto sighed. Every time it seemed like he was getting closer to an answer, Sasuke evaded it. He was like a snake.

Naruto started to talk again, only to be overcome by another bought of coughing. After another sip Sasuke paused, planting his drink in front of Naruto. "Here, try this. For your throat."

Naruto, nodding a wordless thanks, picked up the glass and gulped down a mouthful. His throat, still twinging, was suddenly set afire as the amber liquid burnt a trail down his body. He gasped in air, eyes watering.

Sasuke rolled his eyes for what seemed like the hundredth time. "Idiot. That's not how you drink whisky." As Naruto, wheezing once more, tried to pass him back the glass Sasuke resolutely slammed it back in front of him. His eyes found Naruto's again. "Small sips. Let it run over your tongue. Properly taste it: only when it's fully saturated your mouth… then you swallow."

Something about the way Sasuke said that made Naruto feel strange. His dark eyes, intense, brooding, pulled Naruto in like a whirlpool, or a black hole. They made him feel intimidated, yet oddly… curious. His voice had also changed: his tone, slightly disinterested even when telling his anecdotes, became warm and inviting. It was a side of Sasuke he was beginning to see more of as the night went on. Naruto felt at that moment like he might just obey any command Sasuke gave him.

Shakily, Naruto broke eye contact, picking up the glass once more. Taking a small sip, he did as Sasuke said, letting the liquid flow over his tongue and soak into him. A feeling of warmth, different to the intense fire he'd felt before, slowly spread through his entire mouth. It was smoky, but didn't burn. He swallowed, the warmth stroking his throat as it passed.

Naruto spent several seconds staring at the drink in his hand. The amber liquid settled at the bottom of the glass, tiny ripples breaking the surface as minute vibrations rocked it.

Naruto blinked, jumping slightly as he snapped back to reality. Sasuke was watching him intently, with an expression Naruto could only describe as expectant. Naruto cleared his throat, the pain fading.

"Holy shit."

Sasuke laughed uproariously, the first real laugh he had heard from the man that night. A goofy grin spread over Naruto's features as he handed the glass back. "I gotta get me one of those."

Naruto turned to face the bar, trying to get the bartender's attention once more. As he finished serving two girls on their right he made his way to the pair, a bemused expression on his face.

"Yeah, I'll have a…" Naruto frowned and turned to Sasuke. "Shit, what's it called?"

"Bruichladdich."

"…that. Please."

"Jesus, man." Sasuke said as his drink was prepared. He spelt it out by syllable, slowly. "Brew. Clad. Eee. It's not hard." He took a sip of said whisky. "My family's not even from here and I seem to manage."

"Don't pull that Asian shit Sasuke, you were born in the same hospital as me." Naruto laughed as his arrived. Eagerly taking a small sip, he repeated the process Sasuke had outlined, nodding as it soothed his aching throat. "Besides, you really think my roots are here? Never met another Uzumaki in my life."

"Regardless." Sasuke smiled, obviously not taking Naruto's jab to heart. He gestured to the glass in Naruto's hand. "Rule of thumb is to hold it in your mouth for as many years as the whisky's been aged. This one's… ten, I think." He raised his voice slightly, but he didn't need much more volume to cut through the background noise. "Drew, this is a ten, right?"

"Yeah, that's a Laddie 10."

Sasuke nodded, taking another sip. "Of course, that's just a bit pedantic. So: you and Hinata?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. It's hard to describe. I mean, I cared for her, a lot. But there just wasn't a spark, you know? People always say you're supposed to know when you're in love with someone, that it makes some sort of cosmic sense. It just… didn't."

"So you ended it?"

"No, actually: she did. I know," he said, addressing Sasuke's surprise. "She said she could tell that it wasn't going to work out. I think it was the world's most anticlimactic breakup to be honest. It was weird for a few months, but we're still good friends. It's not really much of a story."

"I dunno," Sasuke mused, leaning back onto the bar. "It was clear to anyone with eyes that Hinata was madly in love with you. If she could tell you weren't into her as much…" he shrugged. "It seems like she let you go because she cared so much for you. You're a lucky guy." He took a drink, starting past Naruto into the crowded bar. "It's hard to let go of someone like that."

"Aw man…" Naruto ran his fingers through his hair, stunned by this sudden revelation. "I'd never thought about it that way before. Damn, that's… that's really touching."

"She's one hell of a girl." Sasuke agreed. He raised his glass. "To people like her: may they long make us look like total assholes by comparison."

Naruto laughed, meeting Sasuke's extended arm and completing the toast. They both drank, Sasuke more deeply than Naruto. Putting yet another finished whisky on the bar, Sasuke fished in his pocket for his wallet again.

"Woah man," Naruto said, putting his hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Maybe you should slow down, you've had a lot to drink tonight."

Sasuke quickly brushed Naruto's hand off, but more gently than he expected. "I'm fine. I've been a lot more drunk than this."

"You've lost a lot of blood."

"I've also lost a lot more than this. Don't babysit me, I know my limits." He paused as the bartender came up to them. "Hey… no, Talisker this time. Cheers." He turned back to Naruto. "Besides, speak for yourself: you were a bit drunk when we started too, and you haven't exactly been going slowly. Mixing your drinks as well."

"Jack Daniels is whisky."

"Barely. Far too sweet." He snorted, grabbing the glass Drew produced, palming his change. "Christ, may as well drink Bells."

"God forbid anyone have an opinion Sasuke." Naruto shrugged. "Besides, it all tastes the same to me."

"Well if you ever mix Auchentoshan or Talisker with coke I will personally kill you." Sasuke growled.

"You already had a go at that," Naruto muttered under his breath. More clearly, he said. "Well it's a good thing I have a medic on speed dial."

If Sasuke heard the first part, he didn't show it. "Sakura, yeah? And how's she doing? She'll have moved North for uni, right?"

Naruto nodded. "She's good, actually in town for once. I'd just dropped her off at her hotel before I ran into you. You're right as ever: she graduated top of the class, moved away for med school. She, eh… she leaves tomorrow. You could meet her before the train, if you wanted to."

Sasuke took a long drink, closing his eyes. "That… may not be the best idea. I don't imagine she'll be quite as forgiving as you are."

Naruto sat up, his mouth fixed in a hard line. "Who says I've forgiven you?"

Sasuke sighed once again, but this time it was different: where before had been aloofness was now only weariness. He opened his eyes again, turning them on Naruto's. The deep pools of midnight complexity seemed to clear, revealing something in Sasuke Naruto had never seen: vulnerability. It was sorrow without his rage, exhaustion without his determination to carry on. Sasuke's eyes were full of hurt, loneliness, and more pain than Naruto had ever seen in another human being.

"That's always been your problem Naruto. You forgave me the moment I hurt you."

As briefly as it was there, it vanished; Sasuke's face shut down into the cold, hard mask that Naruto knew so well, dropping his glass on the bar.

"I have to go."

Before Naruto could protest, Sasuke pushed off the bar. He lost his footing, staggering into the biker they'd passed earlier, wheeling off his massive shoulder. It was as if all the alcohol had hit him in that one second. Or maybe he had been this drunk all along, just using the bar for support. The man seemed startled, but managed to catch Sasuke before he fell. Softly placing the tankard he held on a table, he got Sasuke upright.

"Woah, looks like someone's had too much to drink…"

Naruto rushed over, more sure footed than his friend, and looped Sasuke's arm around his shoulder. "I'm sorry man, I think he needs some sleep."

The burly man nodded, frowning as Sasuke half-heartedly tried to push Naruto off him. "You look after him, okay?"

Naruto grinned his best winning smile. "Don't worry, he'll be fine. C'mon Sasuke, you can crash at mine."

Sasuke gave a feeble mumble of dissent, but allowed Naruto to guide him out of the bar and onto the busy street: he seemed to realise he was in no fit state to take himself home.

(╯'□')╯︵ ┻━┻

Naruto grunted, staggering slightly as he hoisted Sasuke over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. They had reached his flat, only 15 minutes from the tunnel, but it was 15 minutes of practically dragging Sasuke's stubborn form up hills. It was like all the life had gone out of him in those few seconds it had taken to leave the bar. Slowly ascending the stairs as not to jostle a delicate Sasuke, Naruto eventually made it to the second floor. Holding onto Sasuke's back with one hand and grabbing his keys with the other, he unlocked the door on his second try, pushing it open. He was a lot less sober than he had thought.

Carrying Sasuke straight through to the bedroom, Naruto gently deposited him on the bed. For a second he considered leaving him there, fully clothed: he looked half asleep anyway, it wouldn't make much difference to him. Still, something compelled Naruto to grab some pyjama bottoms from a cluttered drawer. Throwing them on the bed next to the prone form of Sasuke, he started unbuttoning his shirt. Blushing slightly, Naruto tried to be as business-like as possible.

You're only doing him a favour is all…

He didn't know why he was so embarrassed: he'd done this for Kiba a few times when he'd been gone overboard on a bottle of absinthe, and it wasn't an issue. Maybe it was just the fact that it was Sasuke, and he was still uncomfortable with him.

Maybe it's because Sasuke's gay.

Naruto fumbled on one of the buttons, giving an exasperated sigh. Did it feel strange to be undressing Sasuke because he was interested in men? He didn't want it to be the case, but there was a nagging suspicion in his mind that it could be.

It shouldn't matter…

Naruto got the last button, pulling Sasuke's leaden arms out of the sleeves. He wasn't as skinny as Naruto remembered: his training had obviously bulked him up somewhat, making him all bone and muscle. As he turned Sasuke over to get his left sleeve, Naruto noticed a large scar that arced from armpit to just below his pectoral. It was a pinkish white like the one on his hand, but wider and more jagged. He could see the paler lines where they'd stitched him together, the needle moving point to point across his chest.

Naruto had the oddest urge to touch it. He knew he really shouldn't, as it would be untold levels of creepy, but he couldn't help himself. He glanced at Sasuke's face quickly, but the man was completely out of it. Biting the inside of his cheek, Naruto slowly extended an index finger towards the fascinating blemish.

It was very smooth to the touch, the needle's line a slight bump underneath the translucent skin. It met his undamaged flesh at a hard line, not visible but rough to the touch: the scar was a trench cut through the pale skin, a brutal path carved with a blade.

As Naruto gently ran the finger along his body Sasuke shivered, his brow deepening in a frown. Naruto jumped, quickly jerking his hand away and hitting it on the chest of drawers in the process. Stifling a yelp, he shook his hand a few times. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks as he blushed.

What the fuck are you doing, Naruto? Stop molesting this poor dude and give him his pyjamas.

Grabbing a hanger from his wardrobe, Naruto pulled the shirt out from under Sasuke, flipping him slightly. He couldn't help but see the bruises that extended down his back: from pale yellows to the darkest purples, Sasuke's back was a picture of pain. Speaking of pictures, Naruto spotted a small tattoo on his neck. It was what looked like 3 commas, arranged in a triangle with tails facing outwards. They were contained within a broken circle, with a few trails leaking from where the circle seemed to be cut.

As he placed the hanger, now complete with shirt, on his wardrobe door he wondered what the tattoo could mean.

Is it like triple sixes, Satan worshiper stuff? Nah, probably not: even if he was into the music, Sasuke was never into that kind of culture. Maybe it's a symbol or something, some Japanese family stuff. He'd always thought his heritage was important.

Shrugging, Naruto flipped Sasuke onto his back again, taking off his shoes and socks. Matter-of-factly, Naruto undid his belt and pulled off his trousers in one swift tug. Rousing slightly, Sasuke gazed blearily at Naruto, now only clad in a pair of tight grey briefs.

"Buy me dinner first?" He asked, slurring slightly on the s.

Naruto threw the pyjamas at him, folding the other trousers and placing them on a chair. Sasuke groped blindly at his face, obscured by soft cotton, before Naruto sighed and grabbed them. Stumbling slightly as he tried to get them over Sasuke's feet, Naruto righted himself and pushed the thin fabric over the man's calves, quite impressed by the muscle definition in his legs.

Pulling the waistband up to his thighs, Naruto gently slapped Sasuke's arm. "C'mon, lift your arse."

Sasuke kicked slightly and made an annoyed noise in his throat.

"Sasuke, get the fucking pjs on."

He made the same noise again, more loudly, but this time complied enough that Naruto could slip the trousers on properly.

"Okay buddy, almost there…" Naruto whispered as he lifted Sasuke up slightly, drew back the covers and tossed him into bed. He rolled him onto his side, just in case he decided to pull a Choji and vomit half a steakhouse everywhere. Drawing the duvet up around his neck, Naruto smiled softly at the sight of Super Serious Sasuke Uchiha, sleeping soundly in a bright green bed spread with cartoon frogs on it. Chuckling to himself, Naruto stood up and went to leave. He paused by the light switch, looking back at the man in his bed. Despite his usual cool demeanour, Sasuke was more vulnerable than he had ever been before. He'd let his guard down for one second, and in that second Naruto had seen it all: the hurt, the loneliness, and just how lost the young man was.

But he was here again. For the first time in three years, Naruto knew that his friend was safe under his roof, just for one night. He felt it was the start of what might be a long recovery.

Naruto flipped the lights off and wandered through to his living room. Throwing his hoodie and t-shirt in an already-messy corner, he grabbed a spare blanket and flopped down on the couch. The last thought he had before floating into a drunken oblivion was wondering what sober Sasuke would make of this.